Well Kept Secret
by yukuro
Summary: Wolfram sees and knows more than Yuuri and the others think. [Conrad x Yuuri, Wolfram x Yuuri]


**Disclaimer:** Too poor.

**Pairing:** Conrad x Yuuri, Wolfram + Yuuri

**Well-Kept Secret**

_By: yukuro_

Even though he seemed possessive and jealous most of the time, Wolfram really did understand Yuuri. No one had ever actually accused him of being ignorant or blind towards Yuuri's reluctance, but it was not as if he did not already know what people were thinking. Everyone knew it was in his nature to be temperamental and impatient, but unobservant was something he most definitely was not.

Everyday, Conrad would knock on the door before stepping in lightly to wake Yuuri up. And everyday in response, Yuuri would beam happily up at Conrad before hopping to his feet to get dressed. Most of the time, they assumed Wolfram was still sleeping. However, it was quite the opposite. Most of the time, the blond was awake, watching through a veil of long lashes as Yuuri got dressed humming cheerfully as he did so, as if his day had already been made just by seeing Conrad's smile in the morning. Wolfram never said anything. Instead, he rolled over and pretended to continue sleeping until Yuuri slid quietly out of the room. Once the door clicked shut, his eyes would open again.

Wolfram was usually watching from the window when Yuuri began his morning jog with Conrad around the castle. Seeing the dark haired boy desperately running to keep up with Conrad's pace while laughing all the while, Wolfram could only close his eyes again and turn away from the window.

"Yuuri, you wimp."

For breakfast each day, they ate the same thing. Conrad and Yuuri, that is. Wolfram hardly failed to notice this. They even ate the same way. At the table, everyone was usually silent. But when Yuuri was there, the young king was usually happily chattering to Conrad about whatever new exploits had developed on Earth while Conrad happily listened. Günter was constantly lamenting the fact that Yuuri almost always spoke directly to Conrad first, but most of the time no one paid attention to him. Not even Wolfram. He hardly needed Günter's observations to notice that himself. And, almost every morning, the blond abruptly left the table with a curt note of thanks.

Yuuri was clueless as always to why Wolfram was so consistently irritable or why the blond had to burst out reminders that they were engaged. But since he _was_ clueless, he probably had not realized that Wolfram had of course noticed that Yuuri always wanted to know what _Conrad_ was doing or that when given a choice, Yuuri would always choose to ride with _Conrad_. Wolfram usually never missed a chance to declare Yuuri a philanderer, but he never found himself able to say anything whenever the boy was with Conrad (even though Wolfram had even accused Yuuri when the dark haired boy was alone with _Gwendal_ for too long).

Indeed, for someone who was so insistent on proclaiming his fiancé a cheater whenever possible, Wolfram seemed to lack action lately when it came to Conrad. It was impossible to say that he wasn't jealous, of course, but it simply seemed that he would do nothing drastic to separate Conrad and Yuuri.

It was because they had a special bond.

Conrad had something Wolfram could never have: an unbreakable bond of trust with Yuuri. Conrad had been to Earth and knew about baseball, but most importantly of all, Yuuri knew he could trust him no matter what. While Wolfram, on the other hand, could only bicker and fight with the other boy in most of their waking hours. Whenever he needed to talk or simply wanted the reassuring presence of another, Yuuri always went to Conrad. Wolfram knew this; he simply found it difficult to say anything about it.

The one who had been with Yuuri even since his birth was Conrad. The one who always listened to and resigned to Yuuri's every whim was also Conrad. The one Yuuri called out for instinctively whenever there was danger was again Conrad. Wolfram, as he continued to protect the other boy, could only wonder if there was any place at all for _him_ in Yuuri's heart.

"Aha," Yuuri laughed sheepishly one night as he fell onto his bed after a long day's escapade with the local thieves. Rolling over to his side with a large grin on his face while examining the back of his left hand, he admitted, "I guess I was being careless when I got my hand cut like this. Haha, I really thought Günter would flood the castle with his tears."

Wolfram remembered. They had just captured the thieves when Yuuri accidentally elbowed a box of glass cups and cut the back of his hand. Both he and Conrad had been horrified, but before Wolfram could even call out Yuuri's name, Conrad had already done so and ran forward to examine the boy's wounds with a dreaded expression. Wolfram closed his eyes again at the memory. Sighing inwardly, he muttered, "Maybe you should ask Gisela to have a look for you."

"Nah, I'm fine," Yuuri replied cheerfully, holding up his bandaged hand to show Wolfram. "It wasn't that big of a cut, really. Besides, Conrad already cleaned and bandaged it for me. It'll be fine in no time, ne?"

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."

Yuuri blinked as the blond spoke in a dead serious tone. Smiling gently, the dark haired boy patting the other boy's shoulder. "It's fine, Wolfram," he assured softly, "I'm not hurt that badly. Besides," he laughed lightly, "I was just being clumsy. I can't expect you to literally _always_ be there to protect me, right? I guess I've got to learn how to take care of myself too."

"But if I can't protect you," Wolfram whispered as he stared at the carpet below his feet, "I won't have any other way to show my feelings."

"What was that?" Yuuri asked, raising his hand to his ear and leaning closer slightly. "Speak up, Wolfram. There's no way I can hear you if you talk that softly."

"I said," Wolfram stated calmly, louder this time, "that you're a complete and utter _wimp_, Wimp."

"There's the Wolfram I know," Yuuri laughed, patting the other boy's blond head. "Being so solemn really doesn't suit you, you know. Good night! Don't hit me in your sleep this time. Ah, speaking of which, do you _ever_ plan on getting your own room? I kind of miss having my own room…"

Wolfram simply closed his eyes and ignored him. As always, there was only one person on Yuuri's mind, and that person was most definitely not him.

* * *

The same morning routine that always occurred, occurred again. Wolfram watched Yuuri and Conrad make their laps around the castle as usual until Greta burst into the room to announce breakfast. Just like always.

He vaguely wondered when things had fallen into this trend of a routine. Wolfram was always sitting next to Yuuri at the table, but Yuuri always sat directly across from Conrad. Even if he managed to sneak glances at Yuuri out of the corner of his eye at the table, the young maou would never even notice. After all, Conrad was before him, clear in sight.

Nothing eventful was happening that day. Günter had finally decided to release Yuuri for a while, much to the teen's relief. After all the studying and being cooped up in the office, his legs had cramped and his arms were itching to toss a baseball. He was clearly in a good mood. After all, he did even invite Wolfram to come play catch with Conrad and him despite how he personally knew how much the blond was incompetent at the game. Wolfram had denied with a huff, but he secretly wanted to play. But baseball was something Yuuri did only with Conrad, and Wolfram found it difficult to interfere.

Instead, the blond resorted to simply sitting at the side, watching and occasionally making a rather snide remark or two. After all, he was the only one who could tease Yuuri, and Yuuri's flustered face was always very cute. He knew that Yuuri did care about him at least a little. Even if he _was_ a wimp, he still would not show that kind of face to just anyone. That thought made Wolfram smile slightly.

The morning had been more or less uneventful. After breakfast and Yuuri's daily morning warm-up with Conrad, the young maou had been whisked off to the study to sign more papers, a job Yuuri found most taxing. Günter had decided to be generous, however, allowing Wolfram and Conrad to remain in the room while the teen worked. Their presence had made the dark haired boy a bit more cheerful. Or, at least as far as Wolfram could suspect, it was simply Conrad's presence that made Yuuri beam brightest. Even though he was in the room, most of the time Yuuri only spoke directly to Conrad. If Wolfram spoke first, Yuuri would cheerfully respond, but when the young maou had something to say, he would instinctively turn to Conrad first.

Wolfram remained silent for most of the morning, watching as Conrad and Yuuri exchanged playful banter and laughs. He felt completely distanced, as if he were not in the room at all. He knew that if he were to bring it up though, Yuuri would flush and deny it—he was just that kind of person. Still, Wolfram managed to make the most of it by occasionally reminding the overly loving pair he was still in the room (and he was Yuuri's fiancée at that).

By lunchtime, Wolfram was assured that if anyone else had spent the entire morning listening to and watching Conrad and Yuuri, they too would be convinced of Wolfram's reasoning. But no one did, and no one suspected anything. It was as if they were able to escape into their own universe and no one would pay them any heed. Only he, Wolfram, would be stuck observing from the outskirts, wondering why all the others consistently dismissed their interactions as nothing to be concerned about. Couldn't they see it? The blatant hints of their relationship—one with more strength than Wolfram would ever be able to share with Yuuri.

But he was the only observer, the only one who had noticed, and he was helpless against it.

"_Wah_!"

Yuuri jumped frantically to the left, and incidentally into Conrad's arms, when a spider fell out of the tree they had been sitting beneath and onto his leg. He yelped when Conrad laughed at his reaction, hugging him close and assuring him, "It was just a spider, Yuuri. It won't hurt you."

"But it _shocked_ me!" Yuuri protested, still clinging to Conrad's chest. "I've been afraid of spiders since I was a kid! I mean, they're not even bugs! They have eight legs! And, and—…!"

Conrad laughed again and gently held the boy in his arms while the teen burrowed deeper into his embrace.

All the while, Wolfram stood at the side (he had been passing by at first), observing quietly as the scene played out before him. He noticed the way Yuuri felt perfectly content on revealing his weakness to Conrad, and he noticed the way Conrad's smile became just a bit softer whenever he was near Yuuri. He was temperamental and impatient, but he was most definitely not unobservant.

If it had been anyone else, he would have promptly stormed over and barged in between them, declaring a firm reminder of just who was engaged to who. But it was Conrad, and that mere fact rendered him useless. He would be glad to fight anyone else for Yuuri, but fighting against Conrad was impossible.

Yuuri did love Conrad the most after all.

Quietly, Wolfram turned on his heel and retreated down the corridor without a word about the private scene he had witnessed. When it was Conrad, Yuuri didn't seem to mind being held for unreasonable amounts of time just from being surprised, and Conrad hardly minded holding him. It was a secret that Wolfram had uncovered but everyone else had somehow managed to miss.

For now, he would continue being temperamental and impatient and pretend to be unobservant. He would continue to bark at others for getting to close to Yuuri while turning a blind eye to Conrad's behavior. He would continue to let Yuuri have his secret and private moments with Conrad, because that was what would make him happy—something Wolfram always wanted for him. He wouldn't mind keeping it a secret, as long as it remained a secret.

For now, he would continue to hide all his true feelings and keep them all a well-kept secret.

Owari.

* * *

**A/N:** It's true, really. Wolfram never whines much about Conrad's interaction with Yuuri, right? (Only occasionally.) 8D Eto. In any case, that would be my contribution to Wolfram, a character I almost liked but never really disliked either. (Confusing.)

Thanks for reading! Happy New Year! (You can make my day by dropping a line, you know. x )


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